Ontra Global Survey Reveals Significant Increase in Contracts Negotiated, Finds Outsourcing Extremely Effective

Ontra, the global leader in Contract Automation and Intelligence, released the results of a multinational third-party survey spotlighting the current state of contract negotiation. The survey explored the management of routine contracts—like non-disclosure agreements, joinders and engagement letters—and the extent to which businesses are (or aren’t) outsourcing or using technology to automate workflows and find process efficiencies.

HR Technology News: Wrike Releases New Capabilities to Automatically Predict Project Success; Makes Recommendations to Save Time, Optimize Resources

The inaugural annual survey, which polled 1,000 legal and investment professionals of varying seniority around the world, found that 71% of respondents have seen their routine contract work grow in the last six months. To combat the strain of a heavy load of contract work in 2021, 76% of respondents outsourced their routine contracts to a legal technology provider, alternative legal services provider, outside counsel or a combination of the three. Of those respondents, 97% found contract outsourcing effective, ranking having more time for higher-value work and faster reporting as the top benefits.

Other key findings include:

• 64 percent of respondents believe that routine contract work negatively impacts workplace morale.
• 92 percent of respondents believe it would be beneficial if more contract management processes were automated or outsourced.
• Nearly eight in ten respondents plan on increasing their investment in automating or outsourcing contract management processes in 2022, versus only 2% that said their investment will decrease.
• Two in three respondents will dedicate additional funds to technology and tools for automating or outsourcing contract management processes.

HR Technology News: More Customers More Problems: Surge in Holiday Travel and Shopping Increases Risk to Frontline Workers Facing Unruly Customers

“This survey confirms what we have seen for decades—legal and business professionals are continually bogged down by routine contract work,” said Troy Pospisil, CEO and Founder of Ontra. “As the world continues to rebound from the global pandemic, those who assume they can easily scale manual processes to match the frenetic pace of growth are setting their teams up for hundreds of hours of bottleneck work. Enterprises striving to evolve, lead, and compete effectively in their industries can prevent burnout and avoid the risk of losing strong internal talent in the ‘Great Resignation’ by providing employees with a better work-life balance and freeing their time to focus on strategic tasks that drive the business forward.”

HR Technology News: DARPA Awards PARC Contract to Accelerate Learning of Complex Skillsets Through Artificial Intelligence and Augmented Reality